The district offices of Anding District and Sinshih District met at Sinshih District Office at 10am on March 7 in order to improve and solidify the mechanisms and procedures of their evacuation shelters. This effort involves getting different sectors of society to form alliances, which is why these two districts signed evacuation shelter support agreements with Sendale Tainan Science Park Hotel and Grace-Garden Resort. The signing ceremony may have been simple and a touch too formal, but these agreements are serious business, as they will further improve the mechanisms and procedures of shelters in Anding District and Sinshih District that will take care of victims when disaster strikes in the future. Therefore, this is an enormous step forward.
In order to improve the environments of its evacuation shelters, Anding District Office is seeking to cooperate or form alliances with hotels and lodging companies. Although it has been relentless in its search to find partners to work with, Anding District, unfortunately, has few hotels and no large temples that could accommodate large numbers of people in case of an emergency. As a result, the district took geographical convenience into consideration, and District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung saw an opportunity to modify its original plan by linking up with its close neighbor—Sinshih District. After Liu talked about the issue with Sinshih District Chief Chiu Bao-hua, together, the two district chiefs went to Sendale Tainan Science Park Hotel and Grace-Garden Resort, which are located in Sinshih District, to discuss the feasibility of these private companies working with the district offices. The companies not only gave their approval, as they also praised the idea before signing this act of goodwill without hesitation. This partnership was officially recognized as a success when the companies signed the agreements.
Anding District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung expressed that district offices will offer disaster relief services for victims and that evacuation shelters serve as the foundation. However, the district office took into account that the government is limited in terms of its capabilities and resources for carrying out disaster relief, meaning it would struggle to provide evacuation shelters that are comfortable and comprehensive. On the other hand, getting private organizations to invest their own resources and having different sectors of society form alliances will significantly improve the efficacy of local disaster prevention and relief efforts.
In addition to killing and injuring a great number of people, the 2016 Taiwan Earthquake that took place on February 6 last year caused a great number of buildings to collapse or tilt. Providing shelters that were capable of offering a complete living environment for disaster victims proved to be an enormous challenge for the local government. Fortunately, privately-run hotels stepped up right away by offering shelter for disaster victims, ensuring that people that had nowhere to go were immediately able to get the care they needed.
The evacuation shelter support agreements that were recently signed are being done in hopes that a completely new system can be set up before the next disaster strikes. Essentially, these agreements are the backbone that will allow the district office to be able to provide evacuation shelter mechanisms and procedures that are more complete. District Chief Liu expressed his sincere gratitude to Sinshih District Chief Chiu Bao-hua for his hard work in helping bring this plan to fruition. Liu also gave a warm thank you to Sendale Tainan Science Park Hotel and Grace-Garden Resort for their selflessness, compassion, and benevolence.
Contact: Social Affairs Section, Li Jia-lun, 06-5921116-128 (phone)